The University of Florida received a $439,210 Project Grant award from the Department of the Air Force Materiel Command Research Laboratory to develop and validate instrumentation for autonomous multi-agent systems operating in contested outdoor environments. The grant was awarded on April 1, 2021 under the Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program (CFDA 12.800) with a completion date of September 30, 2023.
The Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program aims to maintain Air Force technological superiority through scientific research relevant to its needs. This particular award will support the University of Florida's Division of Sponsored Research in creating verification and validation tools for autonomous systems conducting operations in contested outdoor settings, such as on a battlefield. The research funded seeks to prevent technological surprise to the United States while enabling new capabilities for its defense efforts.